Summers in the city of Portland have temperate temperatures and sporadic spats of rain, or not. Yet regardless of the weather, for over a century June in the City of Portland means the Rose Festival, highlighted by the Grand Floral Parade. For the 50th anniversary, the 1958 Rose Parade called for the featured floats to express the Rose Festival theme of “50 Golden Years”, with each float representing a different year. The University of Portland entry “Golden Jubilee” remembered our own 50th anniversary in 1951, a year which marked the beginnings of our AFROTC program and the opening of campus to women students in all educational programs and (surprise!) as on-campus residents.
The Engineering Club constructed a boat-float as our entry; at the helm rode an AFROTC cadet standing sentry and Doreen Voeller, ’61, Military Ball princess. (The University was ahead of the AFROTC by twenty years, it is not until 1971 that women were accepted into the AFROTC program on-campus.)
Video footage of the 1958 Rose Festival Parade is found at this link, with UP’s Float entry at the 4:25 mark.
(video used with permission by Thomas Matlock, owner)
